Algae, the photosynthetic organisms that float at the ocean’s surface, already produce roughly three quarters of the planet’s oxygen. But one group of scientists think these simple cells could do even more to clean the atmosphere.
Algenol, a Florida-based biotech company founded in 2006, has patented a way for the blue-green, single-celled organisms to produce four key fuels — ethanol, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel — all for a little under $1.30 a gallon and with two-thirds less greenhouse gas emissions.
While it may sound strange to think of pulling up to a gas station to buy algae, supporters point out that’s what drivers are already doing: crude oil pumped from underground is often derived from algae that settled on the seafloor eons ago and decayed into a waxy substance known as kerogen. When heated by pressure, kerogen liquifies into either oil or natural gas. Essentially, Algenol has condensed the timeline, creating the biofuels at their four-acre plant, rather than waiting for them to be drilled out of the crust.
In broad strokes, Algenol’s technology looks similar to what many biofuel companies already do to ferment sugars from corn, soybeans or animal fats into fuels like ethanol. But its method requires no farmland or freshwater. Instead, Algenol’s algae hangs in bags of seawater and is exposed to the Florida sunshine and carbon-dioxide to produce the sugars required for ethanol directly. That’s where the science gets tricky: by adding enzymes, the process enhances algae’s fermentation, so that it devotes its energy to producing sugar for fuel rather than its own maintenance and survival. After that, the spent “green crude” by-product is further refined into other fuels. The company boasts that the process is far more efficient than anything farm-raised, converting more than 85 percent of its inputs into fuel.
It’s an impressive scientific achievement, but Algenol’s financials face strong headwinds. A recent glut of oil from worldwide markets caused a steep drop in prices at the pump, creating obstacles to market penetration and slowing emergent technologies. And major support from the federal government, in the form of grants, loans and tax credits, largely expired in 2011. In late October, the company announced a 20 percent reduction in the workforce and the Algenol’s founder, Paul Woods, stepped down.
While cheap gas may be a boon to consumers’ pocketbooks now, eventually we will all have to pay the steep price for its pollution. It’s up to us to pick what kind of algae we want to keep putting in our cars.
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Tag: diesel
This Simple Add-On Could Save the Country Billions in Fuel Costs
Until electric vehicles and hybrids become de rigueur, fossil fuels will continue to power the vast majority of America’s automobiles for the foreseeable future.
And as it happens, America’s lumbering big rigs use up a lot of this non-renewable resource. A Fast Company article puts it bluntly: “Trucks are miserable when it comes to gas mileage. America’s 2.2 million freight trucks get about six miles per gallon on average, usually with cargo.” All told, that’s 36 billion gallons of diesel fuel burned annually by freighters.
But a study from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that adding trailer skirts, tail fins and other drag-reducing devices to America’s fleet of semi trucks can mean big savings in fuel consumption and dollars, as well as significantly cut CO2 emissions, Ensia reports.
The skirt (which is attached to the lower sides of a trailer) and the tail (which is affixed to the back) works by reducing air resistance over and around the vehicle as it moves along the road. According to a news release, researchers found that these panels — which are only utilized by 3 to 4 percent of the nation’s semi trucks — can reduce aerodynamic drag by as much as 25 percent, which represents about a 13 percent decrease in fuel consumption.
“Even a minor improvement in a truck’s fuel economy has a significant impact on its yearly fuel consumption,” says lead researcher Kambiz Salari in a statement. “For example, 19 percent improvement in fuel economy, which we can achieve, translates to 6.5 billion gallons of diesel fuel saved per year and 66 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere. For diesel fuel costing $3.96 per gallon, the savings is about $26 billion.”
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It might take some time and effort to retrofit millions vehicles with these fashionable-sounding accessories, but the hardware would help the nation’s heavy-duty trucks meet President Obama’s strict new fuel standards (he’s ordered a 10 to 20 percent increase in fuel economy by 2018, depending on class of truck). In a speech, the president noted that these vehicles only make up 4 percent of traffic on America’s roads, but account for 20 percent of the carbon pollution from the transportation sector.
Encouragingly, California’s trucks are already suiting up. The state’s Air Resources Board mandated the installation of trailer skirts in 2013, and it’s already paying off for some. A trucking company owner tells the Times-Tribune that the skirts, which cost about $1,500 to $2,000 each, pay for themselves in three or four years. Another trucking owner adds that they also save two-tenths to three-tenths of a mile per gallon on a trip, which amounts $2,000 to $3,000 in savings, per year, per truck.
Why New Farm and Construction Equipment Will Improve Air Quality and Save Lives
Diesel-sapping farm vehicles and construction equipment are going the way of the dodo — thanks to new standards from the Environmental Protection Agency that have forced big equipment makers to go green.
Like cars, buses, and heavy-duty trucks, bulldozers and tractors are getting a much-needed green makeover. Prompted by the EPA’s latest emission standards, manufacturers have cut fine particles (linked to heart attacks and respiratory disease) and nitrogen oxides in their newer models by 99 percent, the Environmental Health News reports. Additionally, CO2 (a driver of greenhouse gas) has also been reduced due to improved fuel efficiency.
These new standards are obviously welcome news because they should dramatically impact air quality. As the Los Angeles Times reported in 2003 when talks of diesel-emission regulations first began, even though you don’t usually see tractors and bulldozers on the road, they account for 44 percent of soot and 12 percent of nitrogen oxide in the U.S. atmosphere.
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Now that these standards are in place, not only will our lungs benefit from cleaner air, countless lives should also be saved, as farmers and construction workers are especially prone to diesel-related illnesses such as cancer, respiratory disease, and heart attacks. Amazingly, the EPA estimates that by 2030, the new standards will prevent 12,000 premature deaths and 8,900 hospitalizations per year.
The Environmental Health News report does note that there is still room for improvement. First, there is no federal incentive to buy greener equipment. Secondly, compared to cars or trucks, it takes much longer to replace bulldozers and tractors (some date back to the 1950s and 60s). However, these new EPA regulations mean that when farmers or construction workers finally do replace their gear, they will have no choice but to buy green because that’s all that is available.
Now that’s bulldozing our way to a cleaner future.
The Diesel-Chugging Yellow School Bus Finally Goes Green
Stuck driving behind an exhaust-spewing yellow school bus? Chances are, your first order of business is to roll up your car’s windows. The second? To tell your GPS to recalculate your route.
Fortunately for drivers in Reedley, California’s Kings Canyon unified school district, they no longer have to inhale a lungful of fumes emitted by school vehicles. That’s because the district’s all-electric school buses are hitting the road — an initiative that’s a nationwide first.
States usually refrain from purchasing electric vehicles because of the cost, but that wasn’t a problem for this district as Kings Canyon’s buses were partly funded by California Air Resources Board’s Air Quality Improvement Program. In the long run, these e-buses will actually help the district save money, too. According to a press release from developers Trans Tech and Motiv Power Systems, these new school buses will save more than $10,000 each year (!) in fuel and maintenance for the district.
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It makes perfect sense for school buses to go green. After all, most buses in the United States are powered by diesel fuel, and the EPA estimates that more than half of today’s buses have been in service for more than 10 years — meaning that they’re out-of-date with today’s pollution and safety standards. So students who have to ride them for school and field trips are exposed to more health risks. Making newer, cleaner buses should be a common sense priority.
Currently, there are similar clean air initiatives in New York City and Chicago, which means electric school buses may soon roll in to a bus stop near you.
These Researchers Want to Put Plastic Bags in Your Gas Tank
You see them all over your house, in landfills and in the ocean. But have you ever thought of putting a plastic bag in your gas tank?
As UPI reports, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have turned our man-made waste into something useful: fuel. And it’s not just diesel, these shopping bags were also converted into other products such as natural gas, solvents, gasoline, waxes and lubricating oils, the researchers said.
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What’s great about this conversion process is that it produces more energy than it consumes. “You can get only 50 to 55 percent fuel from the distillation of petroleum crude oil,” said lead researcher Brajendra Kumar Sharma. “But since this plastic is made from petroleum in the first place, we can recover almost 80 percent fuel from it through distillation.” Recycling plastic bags for fuel sounds like a win-win for your budget and for the environment.